Gov. Abbott responds to criticism of school voucher program

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said one of his priorities this year is the school choice concept.

Part of the governor’s idea is to open education savings accounts that would allow parents to opt out of local school districts and directly receive public money that would normally go to their child’s school.

Public educators and even some rural Republicans opposed the concept.

READ MORE: What you should know about Education Savings Accounts, a voucher-like program championed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Gov. Abbott met with Stephen Dayal of FOX 4 and answered questions about how he thinks the plan should work and why he thinks it’s the best direction for the state.

How will educational savings accounts work?

Much of the criticism of education savings accounts is that funding cuts could put a strain on public schools.

“Some people say that this will lead to school closures, but this is very ignorant. Because we’ve seen over 350,000 students leave public schools for charter schools, and what we haven’t seen is public school closures. And we certainly haven’t seen any impact on high school football,” Gov. Abbott said.

READ MORE: School voucher debate continues in Texas

Ten states have education savings account programs, and many more have laws that add them.

“These education savings accounts have been very successful in other states, and I created one in Texas for students with special needs that has worked really well. So much so that the legislature wanted to expand it to provide more funds for it,” Gov. Abbott explained.

How will private schools be held accountable?

One critic of education savings accounts was Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde.

Ahead of Governor Abbott’s State of the Union address, she tweeted that if the legislature passes school vouchers, private schools must meet the same standards as public schools.

[STEVEN DIAL: “How can that happen if they are private? They can’t be held to a state standard, can they?”]

“They can be held accountable according to the standards of accountability. How it will be structured will be a third party accountable. The state can impose liability on any institution that receives this money, so yes, liability will apply,” Gov. Abbott replied.

How will Governor Abbott defeat the opposition?

This is not the first time that education savings accounts have been tabled in the Texas Legislature.

The bill was passed by the Texas Senate in 2017 but failed in the House of Representatives.

“Two things are different. First, we know this for sure, especially Republicans, but in fact most all Texans support this, whether you live in urban, suburban or rural areas, if you are black, white, Hispanic or Asian. Or if you’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. The majority of all of these categories strongly support this,” Governor Abbott said.

Many Democrats and some Republicans living in rural areas oppose the plan.

Rural legislators oppose legislation such as education savings accounts because they have fewer options when it comes to private schools.

“More than 80 percent of Republicans support this, including in rural areas, so if the Republican representative votes against it, they vote against their constituents,” Gov. Abbott said when asked about the opposition.

Will public schools lose funding?

One big problem is that public schools will lose funding.

Abbott doubled down on his stance, saying public schools would not lose funding.

[STEVEN DIAL: “So you are very confident this will not reduce funding for public schools?”]

“Absolutely yes,” Governor Abbott said. “The way public school funding works ensures that the students who go to those schools are funded. So these schools will continue to attract new students every year and their funding will stay in place.”

“It’s not hurting public schools in the countryside or anywhere else, so there’s no reason to be concerned about it because we’ve seen it work very effectively,” Abbott continued.

Texas: The Issue Is airs Sunday nights on FOX.